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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

Big Books and Bold Ideas

Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune. 

A fresh look at some old fairy tales

A new translation of the best-loved Hans Christian Andersen stories also places the fairy tale author in a new literary context.

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Augusten Burroughs: A Talking Volumes interview

Author Augusten Burroughs' new memoir is the next offering from Talking Volumes. Dry recounts the author's difficult, darkly humorous trip to sobriety.

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Books to accompany any mood

There are great books out there to compliment any state of mind. A noted author, librarian and promoter of good reads recommends classics and non-bestselling books that are worth a good spine-cracking.

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Truth vs. Fiction in Augusten Burroughs' memoir, "Dry"

Producer Heather McElhatton explores where "Dry" belongs among categorizations of fiction, non-fiction, and creative non-fiction.

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Recognizing the women who built America

An anecdotal history of women shows how important women were to the building of the country, despite what textbooks may have taught us.

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The Fortress of Solitude

Author Jonathan Letham's newest novel takes its stories from his childhood. "The Fortress of Solitude" has been critically acclaimed. It follows the adventures of two boys, one black, one white as they grow up in a tough New York neighborhood. The story begins in the late '60s and follows the characters to the present day. As the boys become men, their neighborhood becomes gentrified. Along the way, the boys—Mingus and Dylan—learn harsh realities about life, love, popular music—and even comic books.

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Talking Volumes author describes an African family's turmoil

A sheltered teenage girl's world is shaken by her first romance, family troubles and civil war. The next Talking Volumes author Chimamanda Adichie talks about her debut novel.

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Themes and Threads in Chimamanda Adichie's "Purple Hibiscus"

Talking Volumes Producer Heather McElhatton discusses the atmosphere, sudden change and the metaphor of the purple hibiscus.

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Al Franken talks about media and the right

Al Franken has become the liberal answer to conservative pundits. The former Saturday Night Live writer talks about politics and entertainment.

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Kate DiCamillo returns to talk about her new book

Kate DiCamillo joins Midmorning host Katherine Lanpher for an encore interview. She talks about her new book, "The Tale of Despereaux". The novel began as a request from a child and became a story of a mouse, a rat, a girl and a princess.

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